Inside Team Romney's whale of an IT meltdown — Orca, the Romney campaign's “killer” app, skips beta and pays the price. — Aurich Lawson / Thinkstock — It was supposed to be a “killer app,” but a system deployed to volunteers by Mitt Romney's presidential campaign may have done …

Apple donates $2.5 million to Hurricane Sandy relief — We just got the following email via an Apple employee from Tim Cook showing that the Cupertino company is looking after those on the other coast of the US. Apple will donate $2.5M to the Red Cross to benefit Hurricane Sandy victims (myself included? still no power ConEd!)

The Niantic Project: What Is Google Up To? — A “leaked” image from the Niantic Project, with a code written in Caesar cipher that translates into: “Every operation reaches a risk-assessment stage. At this point, my determination is that Niantic is causing more trouble than it is worth.”

Cray agrees to buy Appro for $25 million cash — Summary: On announcing the firm's third quarter results, in which the supercomputer maker recorded a net loss, Cray will acquire high-performance computing developer Appro for $25m. — Zack Whittaker — Supercomputer maker Cray has signed …

How many startups will Facebook Gifts kill? — Each of the many, many gifting startups out there should have spent the summer reconsidering the future of their companies. Since buying Karma in May, Facebook has begun to testing out its social gifting functionality.

7 Navy SEALs disciplined for role with video game — (CBS News) The U.S. Navy SEALs are part of an elite force that operates in the shadows, best known for killing Osama bin Laden. However, CBS News has learned a group of SEALs has been disciplined for revealing secrets.